Reading LiNan’s post about leveling reminded me of probably the best “role playing” experience I had. Although it harks back to Morrowind the theory could equally be applied in Oblivion.

I had been reading a thread somewhere on Inter-Racial behaviour and it’s relevance in role playing your characters. It got me thinking. My idea was to make a Dark Elf or Dunmer character, but he would be an “Ashlander”. An original inhabitant who shunned the foreign races that had invaded his lands. Captured and imprisoned, for whatever reason, his hatred for the other races had been exacerbated to new heights. Upon his release he would not communicate or trade with anyone else but Ashlanders. Fast travel was a definite no-no. He would disappear and keep as low a profile as possible.

I made a small mod to place a rustic fishing hut on the Eastern shore of Morrowind. It included just the bare essentials in furniture. Everything else would need to be “found”. The characters main attributes and skills would be stealth based. He was going to be an outcast thief after all. As obtaining spells was going to be a major problem for this guy, he would also concentrate on Alchemy. This would give him access to the potions and poisons he would need.

The first problem was getting this guy from the start point all the way over to the Ashland coast without “contact” or assistance from any NPCs. He would need to find adequate equipment and weapons for the journey. I had played numerous characters previously so knew where to find some of the things he would need. For instance, with the lockpick from the start he managed to break into the Customs house and steal some weapons before heading off into the wilds.

Obviously, this fellow was never going to attain high levels but it proved a hell of a lot of fun playing within his parameters anyway. Just finding basic equipment and ingredients proved major adventures in themselves. I needed to get alchemy apparatus early on and I knew the best place was the mages guild in Caldera. That meant crossing the mountains somehow and it was going to be tough with a low level character like this. Eventually, things became easier with more experience and better weapons and equipment. I played that character for ages.

For a similar experience in Oblivion you could use Axbane’s Hunting mod and something like Huntsman’s Lodge (although the leather armour in the later is a little too uber). Being able to make your own armour and arrows from the spoils of hunting was a boon. It’s a shame the mod wasn’t taken further.

I guess what I’m trying to point out is you don’t have to restrict your role playing experience to what the game designers provided. With the use of the right mods anything is possible!